Future Imperfect
by bluewolf963
Summary: A childhood friend of Maria teams up with Ange on a quest to find the truth of the incident on Rokkenjima. With the Sumadera family in pursuit, will the pair learn the truth of their friend's fate, or end up losing everything?


_Disclaimer: Umineko no Naku Koro ni belongs to 7th Expansion/Ryukishi07 I make no profit from my fanfiction_

**Chapter 1 – Transfer Student**

It was the start of another day for Ushiromiya Maria. She shut of the ringing of her alarm clock, and took a look outside her bedroom window. She could see this day would be another cloudy day. She let out a mild yawn as she made her way for the bathroom to wash up. After wiping off her face, she changed out of her pajamas into one of the casual western outfits her mother had made for her. Rosa would often ask Maria to wear the clothes she designed. Maria was always happy to wear them, thinking it was her Mama's way of showing her love. While that may have been true on some level, Rosa saw it as a chance at free advertising for her company, hoping one of the parents might take notice of Maria's outfits, and ask Rosa about where it came from. Maria chose a lavender dress with deep violet ties and ribbons sewn into it. Ivory buttons adorned the top. Maria looked down the side to see there was a small pocket. Maria would often forget to check to see if one of her chosen outfits had a pocket. She liked the ones with pockets best, as it made it easier for her to bring her friends, the rabbit band, with her. Maria smiled as she found the very friends she was looking for.

"Ready for another day of school?" asked Maria.

"We're always ready, Maria," spoke one of the rabbits.

Maria smiled as she turned to see Sakutaro standing in wait for her.

"Ready for school, Maria?" asked Sakutaro.

"Maria ready. Now, just have to eat breakfast. I wonder if Mama came home late last night?" asked Maria out loud as she walked through the house. She found no sign of Rosa. She remembered her mama telling her she would likely have to remain at work for most of the week. Maria formed a small frown, which didn't go unnoticed by Sakutaro. The friendly lion planned to cheer up Maria, but first he had to help her decide on a suitable breakfast. He knew well Maria's preference for snacks and junk food, and often had to act as the voice of reason behind her meal choices.

"Uu, Maria wants to eat caramel apples," spoke Maria, as she sought out her treat.

"Maria, maybe you should prepare some oatmeal instead, uryu," spoke Sakutaro.

"But Maria hates oatmeal," replied Maria.

"I know, but it's healthy for you. Mama says you need to eat right, so you can become a proper lady, uryu," explained Sakutaro.

"And Mama says I have to eat good things like oatmeal for breakfast?" asked Maria.

"That's right! Mama knows what best for us, right? I know you like sweets, but you have to eat healthy things, too. Just like the friendly people in the convenience stores tell us," replied Sakutaro with a smile.

"Okay, I will make oatmeal, but I'm putting sugar and cinnamon in it," spoke Maria, with a grin on her face.

Sakutaro couldn't think of a time when Rosa told them not to put sugar in oatmeal, so he nodded in agreement with Maria. After she prepared and ate her oatmeal, Maria made her way for school. She made it there early, as she often did. She liked to use the time before class to write down any magic she came up with while on her way to school. She recalled her magic for making candy fall from the sky. She kept working to improve it, hoping to make the magic work for her. She knew it would be special the day she perfected it, and looked forward to showing it to Beato. Maria was thinking of a spell for turning a cloudy day into a sunny day as the other students showed up. Maria quickly hid Sakutaro in her bag, making sure she would be the only one able to see him. She knew she would get in trouble with Rosa if she were to be caught with her friends in school.

"It's cramped..." muttered Sakutaro.

"But I made sure to put soft things in there," replied Maria.

"Maybe one cushion less tomorrow, uryu?" asked Sakutaro.

"Okay, one cushion less, so Sakutaro won't be cramped," replied Maria with a smile.

"Okay, now, what kind of tool would make the clouds disappear?" asked Sakutaro.

"Maria remembers one of her teachers saying clouds are made of water. Maybe something that makes water go away?" asked Maria.

"Like a towel?" replied Sakutaro.

"A towel, uu. Good idea Sakutaro!" shouted Maria, garnering snickers from those around her. Maria wrote down the idea about using a towel in a spell to turn a cloudy day into a sunny day. As she was writing, she noticed her teacher had entered the room.

"Time for your class to start. Let's pay extra attention today," spoke Sakutaro.

"Uu, okay," replied Maria with a smile.

The pair of Maria and Sakutaro paid close attention to the lesson. Maria was hoping Sakutaro would understand the hard things. He often helped her with schoolwork she found to be difficult. After several hours, it was time for lunch. Maria remembered to pack in a sandwich and some fruit, like Sakutaro told her. She also had a little candy, and a sweet bun.

"Today's lesson was hard, Maria. I hope we'll be able to figure out your schoolwork together, uryu," spoke Sakutaro.

"Sakutaro smart, help Maria, right?" asked Maria.

"Of course! We'll get it right this time, and make Mama proud," replied Sakutaro.

"Uu! Make Mama proud! I'll do my best!" shouted Maria.

"And I will, too!" shouted Sakutaro.

"Hey, hey, she's talking to herself again!" shouted a random boy.

"So creepy. I bet she's making another spell with her invisible friends," spoke another boy.

"Don't listen to her, or she'll curse you," spoke a third boy.

"She can curse people with her words?" asked the second boy.

"That's what I heard. She cursed some guy one day, and he ended up falling down into a big puddle the next day. Got covered in mud and everything," explained the third boy.

"Wow, I didn't know she could do that. I thought her spells just made you get sick," spoke the first boy.

"They can do a lot! If you listen to her for too long, you could end up in the hospital, or even worse!" spoke the third boy.

"Let's get away from her," spoke the first boy.

"Shouldn't we make it so she can't talk to anyone anymore?" asked the second boy.

"No way! Touching her will burn you! It's best to stay away!" explained the third boy.

The first boy ran away scared, shortly followed by the other two. Maria wore a frown upon hearing what they said.

"What's wrong Maria?" asked Sakutaro.

"Maria's sad they don't understand magic," replied Maria.

"It's okay, we understand," spoke one of the rabbits in her pocket.

"Yeah! That's what allows us to talk to each other!" spoke another of the rabbits.

"Magic is for making friends. They are the ones missing out," spoke a third rabbit.

"I wish we could get everyone to understand magic," spoke the fourth rabbit.

"Maria wants that, too. Maybe one day, we can make everyone understand," spoke Maria.

"That's right, Maria, uryu. One day, we'll make a magic so great, everyone will have to believe in magic with us. Then everyone can be friends with one another!" shouted Sakutaro.

"Yeah, and Beato will be able to go where she wants, instead of having to stay on the island!" shouted Maria. Maria smiled as she laughed with her friends. A passing teacher sighed at the sight, wishing the young Maria could make some friends amongst her fellow classmates.

All of Maria's teachers wanted this. Most were more than aware of Rosa's lack of presence in Maria's life. While they all felt sorry for Maria, they knew they couldn't act unless there was clear proof Maria wasn't being properly cared for. Seeing as she was always well nourished and always had fancy, heartfelt outfits made for her, it would be hard to really push a case for her. Not to mention Maria would never say anything bad about her mother, who she dearly loved, even if her mother had abandoned her for her own pleasures. Maria's ability to look at everything in the most positive light possible is what provided her happiness. And that ability was called magic for Maria.

At the end of the school day, Maria made her way home. A few more children took shots at her as she walked past them. A pair of girls called her a magic freak. One of the boys who was near her path jumped out of her way, shouting at Maria to stay away from him. Another boy touched her, then ran after one of his friends, as if he had touched something filthy. Maria wasn't bothered by any of this, though. She was accustomed to the insults by now, and thought of them as a kind of trial, through which she would protect the other students by being the victim of everyone else's scorn.

On her way home, Maria continued to think of how to use a towel to make a cloudy day into a sunny day.

"Maybe if you wave it at the sky while chanting?" asked Sakutaro.

"Uu, could work. But what would Maria chant?" asked Maria.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to try different things when we get a towel," replied Sakutaro.

"That's a good idea. One of them will work, right?" asked Maria.

"As long as we believe, right Maria?" replied Sakutaro.

Maria grinned in response. As soon as she got home, Maria made her way to her bathroom, looking for a towel to use in her spell.

"Wait Maria, we should do your schoolwork first. We can't forget again like we did last week, uryu," spoke Sakutaro.

"Oh, Maria almost forgot. Thank you for remembering, Sakutaro!" shouted Maria, as she set the towel she picked up down, and joined Sakutaro in the living area to do schoolwork. Maria hoped Rosa would come home, seeing her working really hard on her work, and would praise her for it. Of course, Rosa never came. After Maria and Sakutaro finished their schoolwork, the pair decided they would work on their spell until sunset, then they would go and get something for dinner. Maria picked up her bathroom towel, went into her room, and opened her window to look onto the cloudy sky.

"What should Maria try first?" asked Sakutaro.

"I'm not sure, uryu," replied Sakutaro.

"I know! Hiru! _(to dry)_ Hiru!! Hiruuuuu!!" shouted Maria, while waving the towel into the sky. Maria continued waving the towel and shouting Hiru as loud as she could, until she heard a loud noise. Maria was startled for a moment. The first loud sound was followed by more sounds, getting closer to her. Maria was wondering what was going on until Rosa appeared in her room.

"Maria! What are you doing? Why are you waving your towel around and screaming like that!?" shouted a frustrated Rosa. After having a tense meeting with a client that day, Rosa had hoped to come home and relax with her daughter. When she heard the shouting from down the sidewalk, she thought she was hearing things. When she saw it was Maria, shouting out loud for all to hear, she charged into her house, hoping to put an end to it before one of their neighbors complained.

"Maria was trying to make the clouds go away," replied Maria.

"You ended up getting your towel dirty. Put it in the laundry, and don't do that again," spoke Rosa.

"Sorry Mama," spoke Maria with a frown. Maria wanted to make it sunny for when her mama came home, but only ended up making her mad. Maria quietly did as she was told, and returned to the living area to see Rosa sitting there, looking over the schoolwork she had left out.

"Maria has been working hard, hasn't she?" asked Rosa.

"Maria is trying her best. Wants to make Mama proud," replied Maria.

"This is much better than the last one I looked over. I'm glad you are trying to do better," spoke Rosa.

Maria smiled. The good Mama had come back. Maria was always happy to see Rosa like this, and replaced her frown with a smile.

"Uu uu, Sakutaro helped Maria. Sakutaro is smart, he knew how to do the hard ones!" shouted Maria.

"Oh, is that so? Well, Sakutaro, I'm glad I was able to give Maria such a smart helper," replied Rosa.

"I enjoy helping Maria with school, uryu!" spoke Sakutaro.

Though Rosa only heard it as Maria making a lion voice, she still smiled and acknowledged Sakutaro as though he were the one speaking.

"That's good, Mama is glad to hear that. I wish I had the time to take you out to eat tonight, but I'll have to make something quick here. I'll try to make it special, okay?" asked Rosa.

Maria and Sakutaro smiled.

Rosa bought some frozen vegetables and mashed potatoes, and heated them up. She also bought some precooked ham and had it pre-cut into cubes. After everything was warmed, Rosa applied her artistic skill to arranging everything into smiling lion face.

"Uu! Sakutaro!" shouted Maria.

"It looks just like me, uryu!" shouted Sakutaro.

"I'm glad you like it," spoke Rosa. It was a quick idea she had, but it worked. She was glad her daughter was relatively easy to please when in a good mood. The mother and daughter pair dined in peace before heading to sleep for the evening. Rosa said she needed to get to sleep early, and Maria decided to go to sleep early, so she would be quiet, allowing her mama to get a peaceful sleep after working hard that day.

The next day began the same as her previous day. It was still cloudy, prompting Maria to frown that her spell didn't quite work. She washed up and dressed in an ocean blue dress with a teal stitched patterned and matching teal ribbons. Maria found Rosa had already left for her work, and had to make herself breakfast once again. This morning, Maria learned it was possible to add too much sugar to her oatmeal, prompting Sakutaro to laugh a little at Maria's misfortune. Maria couldn't help but laugh with her friend, while she continued to eat the oversugared oatmeal. Maria arrived at class early as she often did, and worked on new ways to make a cloudy day go way.

"Maybe a fan. Fan's dry things, right, uryu?" asked Sakutaro.

"Might work," replied Maria, as she wrote it down.

Maria and Sakutaro attempted a chant, until the teacher entered the classroom. This time, she was accompanied by a boy no one had seen before.

"Class, I would like to introduce to you a new student," spoke the teacher.

"Hello, I'm Ookami Seigai, please take good care of me," replied the boy.

"Hello!" shouted the class in response. The boy let out a haphazard smile.

"Now choose a place to sit," asked the teacher. The boy chose the first empty seat he saw, the one next to Maria.

"Hey, new kid, you don't want to sit there," spoke one of the boys.

"Huh? Why not?" asked Seigai.

"She's a witch. She'll curse you if you get too close," replied the boy.

"But, she looks nice. I don't think she'll curse me," spoke Seigai.

"I warned you. Don't blame me if something happens," replied the boy.

"You think Maria looks nice?" asked Maria, who wasn't used to compliments.

"Yeah, I like your dress. I've never seen one like it before. It's really pretty," spoke Seigai.

"Mama made it special for Maria," replied Maria.

"Your mom must be really nice," spoke Seigai.

"Ookami-san, if you wish, you may speak to your classmates later. Right now, you need to pay attention to the lesson. Don't be afraid to ask a question if you are lost, okay?" asked the teacher.

"Okay," replied Seigai.

The day's lesson went on until it was time to break for lunch. As Maria usually did, she ate her lunch quickly, and found her usual bench to sit on while thinking of a new spell. Shortly after, Seigai approached her.

"May I sit here with you?" asked Seigai.

"Don't do it!" shouted a random boy.

"Huh? Why not?" asked Seigai.

"If you touch her, it's like poison! You'll get sick!" shouted the boy.

Maria said nothing. It was the same every time a new student arrived. Everyone would warn the new student about her, and how dangerous she was. The new student would always get scared and run off. Eventually, the new students would tease her like everyone else. Maria didn't want to think about anything sad, so she ignored what the boy was saying to Seigai, until she felt something next to her.

"Uu?" asked Maria.

"Sorry, should I have asked again?" asked Seigai.

"It's okay, Seigai-kun can sit next to Maria," replied Maria.

"Thank you, Maria-chan!" shouted Seigai.

"How come you didn't run away like the others?" asked Sakutaro.

"Huh? What was that?" asked Seigai.

Sakutaro covered his mouth and hid himself back in Maria's bag, trying to avoid Seigai.

"Uu? Sakutaro?" asked Maria.

"Sakutaro?" asked Seigai.

"It's okay, you can come out, I don't think Seigai-kun will hurt you. He's not like everyone else," replied Maria.

"H-hello, I'm Sakutaro," spoke Sakutaro.

While others may have only been able to see a lion stuffed animal and hear Maria's voice, Seigai was able to see the real Sakutaro, and looked directly at him.

"There's a boy in your bag... and he looks like he has... cat ears?" asked Seigai.

"Uu uu! Seigai can see Sakutaro!" shouted Maria.

"They're lion ears. I'm a lion cub, uryu!" shouted Sakutaro, trying to sound tough.

"Oh, sorry, Sakutaro-kun. Why are you hiding in Maria-chan's bag?" asked Seigai.

"Mama says Maria shouldn't bring Sakutaro to school, so I hide in here," replied Sakutaro.

"Oh. Why does Maria bring you to school, then?" asked Seigai.

"Sakutaro is Maria's friend. Maria loves to spend as much time as she can with Sakutaro," replied Maria.

"That makes sense. If I had a friend, I would spend as much time with him as I could, too," replied Seigai.

"Seigai-kun doesn't have any friends?" asked Maria.

"No. Everyone always said I was weird. They would tease me for no good reason. Like... they would say I'm fat, or I smell funny, even though I'm not fat, and I bathe every night," replied Seigai.

"So, Seigai was a sacrifice, too?" asked Maria.

"A sacrifice?" asked Seigai.

"There's a sacrifice in every class, a sacrifice who gets bullied, so that way, no one else gets bullied," explained Maria.

"Is that why I was bullied? So no one else would be?" asked Seigai.

"Yep! Maria is the sacrifice in this class, so Maria gets bullied a lot, but it's okay, Maria has lots of friends to make her happy!" shouted Maria.

"Like Sakutaro?" asked Seigai.

"And us!" shouted one of the rabbits.

"Who said that?" asked Seigai.

Maria pulled out the rabbit band she kept hidden in her pocket. After Maria set them on the table, Seigai saw them walk close to him, though, not too close.

"Oh wow, you guys can talk, too? Wow!" shouted Seigai.

"Of course! We have many friends, because we have magic," replied Maria.

"Magic? You mean like what the others were talking about?" asked Seigai, while starting to sound a little nervous.

"Magic good, not cause curses. Maria's magic helps her make friends, not do that other stuff," explained Maria.

"Magic makes friends? If magic can help you make friends, then I want to learn magic too!" shouted Seigai.

"Really? Seigai-kun wants to learn magic?" asked Maria.

"Can you teach me, Maria-chan?" asked Seigai.

"Not sure. Maria still an apprentice. Maria just started learning magic. Maybe can teach a little," replied Maria.

"We can learn together, right?" asked Seigai.

"Maybe. Maria can teach you to believe," replied Maria.

"Okay, then I'll learn that first," spoke Seigai.

Upon saying that, Maria and Seigai noticed the time for their break was over, and returned to class. Seigai helped Maria with packing up her book. Seigai wanted to ask her about the strange book, but decided to wait until later.

Seigai received cold stares from his classmates as he entered the classroom with Maria. He chose to ignore them and pay attention to the rest of the day's lesson. At the end of the day, Seigai waited for Maria, so they could leave school together.

"Thank you for waiting for Maria," spoke Maria.

"I wanted to. I wanted to ask you about the book you had earlier," spoke Seigai.

"Maria's grimoire?" asked Maria.

"Yeah, you had it out earlier during break. It looked like you were writing something when I walked up to you," spoke Seigai.

"Maria was working on her magic!" shouted Maria.

"Magic? Like the magic you make friends with?" asked Seigai.

"Uu, no, different magic. Maria wanted to make magic for making a cloudy day turn into a sunny day," replied Maria.

"Magic can do that?" asked Seigai.

"Magic can do anything! That's why Maria wants to become a witch!" shouted Maria.

"A witch? Like those ugly ladies that ride broomsticks?" asked Seigai.

Both Maria and Sakutaro laughed loudly at Seigai's question, leaving a puzzled expression on Seigai's face.

"Huh?" asked Seigai.

"Those are not what real witches are like. Real witches look like this," spoke Maria, while flipping to a page in her grimoire. The page she showed to Seigai had a drawing of Beato adorning it.

"She looks pretty. She's dressed kind of like you. She's a witch?" asked Seigai.

"She's the Golden Witch, Beatrice!" shouted Maria.

"The Golden Witch Beatrice?" asked Seigai.

"She lives on Rokkenjima. My grandfather lives there, and Jessica-chan, and all the friendly servants! Beatrice is one of my best friends, and she's teaching Maria magic!" shouted Maria.

"She's your magic teacher?" asked Seigai.

"Yep! Beatrice is teaching Maria magic!" shouted Maria.

"I would like to meet her. Maybe she can teach me magic," spoke Seigai.

"Beatrice could probably teach you magic. You can see Maria's friends, so you must have a good potential for magic," replied Maria.

"Potential for magic?" asked Seigai.

"Beatrice says it helps a lot if you have a good potential for magic. It makes it easier to learn if you don't have any of the magic resisting toxin," explained Maria.

"Magic resisting toxin?" asked Seigai.

"Uu, it's bad, really bad. If you have it, you can't see Maria's friends. All the other people in Maria's class have too much, so they can't play with Maria's friends like Maria can," explained Maria.

"Is it something you can get from others?" asked Seigai.

"It's not like being sick. It comes from not believing. As long as you believe, you won't end up making the magic resisting toxin, and you'll be able to learn magic with Maria," explained Maria.

"Okay, so I just have to believe? Okay! With so many fun friends, it would be hard not to believe!" shouted Seigai.

"Hey, brat!" shouted a voice from afar.

"Who is that?" asked Maria.

"Otou-sama. I need to go, I'll see you tomorrow, Maria-chan!" shouted Seigai, as he made his way for his father's car.

"Bye Seigai-kun!" shouted Maria, as she headed for her house.

"Well, well, brat, ain't been one day, and already you have a girl? Not bad, not bad," spoke Seigai's father.

"Well, Maria-chan is really nice. She showed me a whole bunch of her magic friends today. She even told me she was going to teach me magic!" shouted Seigai.

"Magic eh? The magic of love? Ha ha, you're a bit too young for that!" shouted Seigai's father.

"No, not that kind of magic, the magic to make friends," replied Seigai.

"Oh, the magic to make friends? Well, that does sound like fun, ha ha," spoke Seigai's father, as he nearly ran a stop sign. He didn't stop for the sign, though. He stopped for the young woman at the intersection by the sign.

"Hey, good looking! Need a lift?" asked Seigai's father.

My my, aren't you the loud one. No thanks I can walk," replied the woman.

"Aw, my kid thought it would be nice to ride with a pretty lady," replied Seigai's father.

"Your kid?" asked the woman. Seigai popped his head up.

"Um... hi..." muttered Seigai.

"Well, isn't he a cute boy. Well, I'm sorry, but I need to get my exercise by walking. Be a good boy, and keep your dad out of trouble," replied the woman, as she walked along.

"O-okay," spoke Seigai.

"Geez, brat, you didn't stutter like that when you were talking to that girl from before. Oh well, so much for using you to pick up someone. Let's get home. Got me a nice date tonight!" shouted Seigai's father.

"Oh," spoke Seigai.

Such an event was a common occurrence in Seigai's life. Both of his parents were free spirits, who often were after the next person, rather than loving each other. While his parents were married, they only did so out of obligation, not love. The obligation being Seigai being conceived. Seigai's father was sure his mother had faked it somehow, or stole his seed while he was in his sleep and used it to get pregnant. Seigai's father quickly learned how cunning his child's mother could be. After the wedding, the pair got along as well as any newly wed couple. This kept up for the first few years of Seigai's life. Around the time Seigai turned five, both his parents began to get into fights. It would often be over something trivial, like a misplaced item, but it would then explode into a much larger argument over their relationship. Seigai was frightened of such arguments at first, and would run away when he heard them. His parents would get too heated, and usually ignored Seigai's presence, not even aware of what their arguments were doing to Seigai. Eventually, Seigai grew accustomed to their constant arguing, and assumed it to be common place. When he saw his classmates parents fighting, he considered that to be normal over the happy parents.

Eventually, both of his parents grew tired of each other, and began seeing others in secret. It didn't take long for both to realize the other was no longer being faithful; however, both were so careful about their arrangements that they could never prove what the other was up to. When that started, Seigai noticed a change in his parents' personalities. They would be displeased around each other, but happy and overjoyed around others of the opposite sex. His mother would often hide Seigai in order to flirt with other men. It would start as something simple as her waving to random men she passed by while driving. It grew into something more. There were times when she would change where she was going after meeting someone. She would follow the cars of random men. His mother would tell him to be quiet and stay in the car while she was with another man. Seigai would often be alone for hours. His mother would return and told Seigai to say they were out shopping or running errands. His father did similar activities with other women. Unlike his mother, his father would try to use Seigai to get women, often using "life as a single father" as a pickup line for women. Seigai's father would also leave him alone in the car for hours while he was with another woman. Both his parents would at least give Seigai something to eat, but nothing else. Seigai, being as innocent as he was, never mentioned the truth of what had been going on, going along with what his parents told him.

This continued on until several months prior to this day. Up to that day, the business Seigai's rather ran began taking off. After establishing a wealthy client for his architecture firm, he became established as a leading designer of high-end mansions. As the money came in, Seigai's mother began her attempts to grab evidence to prove her husbands infidelity, while avoiding showing her own. Her goal was to grab up half of his father's wealth, as well as gain custody of Seigai, to get child welfare checks out of her husband. She made the mistake of catching her husbands attention in her searches. As a result, Seigai's father took extra care to avoid evidence of his acts showing up. He then sought to prove for sure to himself that Seigai's mother was cheating, and planned to use Seigai to do so.

One day, Seigai's mother had Seigai with him while she engaged in her ritual of finding a random man, and joining him in a hotel. When the pair arrived home, they told Seigai's father they had spent the day shopping. Seigai's father didn't pay it much mind. The next day, Seigai's father asked Seigai what store the pair went to. Seigai got nervous, as he wasn't sure what to say. His mother wasn't around, so he couldn't ask her what store to say, so he said they went to the toy store. Seigai's father smiled and asked him if he saw something there he liked. Seigai didn't have an answer. Later that night, when Seigai's mother came home, Seigai's father asked his mother, "Did you see something you liked while you were out clothes shopping with Seigai? He was going on about how you saw this red dress you were interested in, though, he couldn't remember much more other than that it was red." Seigai's mother was surprised, but quickly thought up a dress to describe to her husband. He smiled in a way that made his wife feel nervous, but decided to dismiss it. Seigai's father had confirmed what he wanted to know through the very different days he put together from Seigai and his wife. He next sought to find evidence of what he confirmed. He assumed his wife was using similar methods as he, and paid a man to walk down a road his wife traveled. As he planned, his wife hit on the man and took him to a hotel. The man carefully avoided having intercourse with Seigai's mother, not wanting to risk upsetting the man who paid him. In the end, his mother left the man. She was in a bad mood, wondering if she had lost her touch. Within the next week, her husband filed for divorce, and brought forth evidence of his wife's actions through the man he had set up for her. Seigai's mother was furious as a result, and attempted to accuse her husband of doing the same. However, in the end, Seigai's father, who was not proven to be unfaithful, as well as established as being better able to take care of Seigai, won the divorce settlement case, keeping all his money, as well as receiving money from his former wife. Seigai's father, out of one final act of gratitude, allowed his wife to keep his house. At least, that's how he made it appear. In reality, he had learned of a place where there were more single women his age, and opted to move there, which is what led Seigai to transferring to the new school.

Seigai himself became torn over everything that had taken place between his parents. He never let it show around them, but it did show up in school. He became unusually shy around others, often backing down from confrontation. This led to him being the victim of bullying from his classmates. This continued up until the day he and his father moved to the area Maria lived. Seigai didn't know why, but he was in awe when he first saw Maria, which is what drew his eyes to the empty seat next to her. For Seigai, this was a chance he was willing to gamble on. As he saw how she was treated throughout the day, it only furthered his resolve to try and become Maria's friend. In his mind, he had finally found someone like him, and hoped he would be able to connect with her, since he had always wanted friends, but was never able to make any.

That night, as his father had promised, Seigai was left alone while his father was off on a date, with a young woman who Seigai's father had hired to work in his new office. Seigai said nothing as his father left. He completed his schoolwork in silence, ate a prepared meal, and went to bed. When he entered his room, he laid his eyes upon a stuffed cat. It was given to him on his fourth birthday. When his parents began fighting, Seigai would hold on tight to the toy, trying to find the comfort he had lost from his parents. He had somewhat grown out of the habit within the last couple years, but after meeting Maria's friend's that day, Seigai thought he would try to see if his stuffed animal might be able to talk, or maybe turn into someone like Sakutaro.

"Hello, how have you been? We haven't played together in a while, have we?" asked Seigai.

Seigai didn't get a response. He picked up the toy, and held it as he did when he was a child.

"Are you cold sitting up there alone?" asked Seigai.

Once again, Seigai received no response. He wondered if he was doing something wrong.

"I'll keep you warm," spoke Seigai, as he held the animal.

The stuffed cat never spoke a word to Seigai, but he tried not to get discouraged, as he took the stuffed cat into his bed with him.

"We'll keep each other company tonight, alright?" asked Seigai.

He took the silence as a yes, and drifted off to sleep, never once letting go of the cat stuffed animal.

"Seigai?" came a voice.

"Huh?" replied Seigai.

"Seigai?" asked the voice again. This time Seigai could clearly hear it. It didn't sound like his name was being spoken, but being "meowed."

"Seigai?" asked the voice a third time.

"Who are you?" asked Seigai.

"I'm right here," replied the voice.

"Right where?" asked Seigai.

"Next to you, meow," replied the voice.

"I can't see you..." spoke Seigai.

Seigai awoke abruptly to the sound of his ringing alarm clock. He found he was still holding his cat stuffed animal.

"Was that a dream? I wonder who that was?" asked Seigai, "Do you know who that was?"

His stuffed animal didn't offer a response.

"Ha ha, well, maybe there's a trick or something, right? Maybe I'm just not doing it right. Or maybe Maria's friends are special. Yeah, that must be it. Maria's friends are special. Maybe the witch she spoke of gave them to her? I'll have to ask," spoke Seigai. He gently set the stuffed animal down, and prepared himself for school. As he left his room, he could hear his father snoring loudly. He assumed his father was tired from his night, and didn't pay it much mind. The school was well within his walking distance, so he decided he would walk there instead of disturbing his father.

As the door slammed, his father stirred for a moment.

"Hmm... what was that... why do I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something..." muttered Seigai's father.

"You okay?" asked the voice of the woman next to him.

"Hm? Oh, just half asleep... going back to... sleep..." muttered Seigai's father.

Seigai did his best to remember the way his father had taken while driving him to school the previous day. He thought he was lost, until he saw another student. He assumed they were going to the same school, and followed her. Upon arriving, he made his way to the his classroom, and his seat next to Maria. He saw Maria was writing something in her grimoire.

"Maria-chan?" asked Seigai.

"Uu, Seigai-kun! Look, Maria came up with another way to make a cloudy day turn into a sunny day!" shouted Maria.

"That's right, you were working on it yesterday. How do you use magic?" asked Seigai.

"By believing, uu. Well, believing to start. For sunny days, Maria needs something else," replied Maria.

"Something else... like heat?" asked Seigai.

"Heat?" asked Maria.

"Otou-san told me on foggy days, the sun comes up and melts the fog, like how ice cubes melt when you put hot water on them, so, maybe we need something to melt the clouds," spoke Seigai.

"That's different then what we were thinking, uryu. Maybe it could work," spoke Sakutaro.

"But where do we get heat from?" asked Maria.

"Hot water melts ice. Maybe it melts clouds, too," replied Seigai.

"Uu uu! Maria will try that!" shouted Maria.

As the teacher arrived, Maria put her grimoire away, and paid attention to the day's lesson. Seigai felt proud of himself for helping Maria out with her magic, though, he still didn't quite understand any of it himself. He just suggested it from something he had observed before. At lunch, one of the other boys approached Seigai as he was about to meet up with Maria.

"Hey, new kid. You really should stay away from that witch," spoke the boy.

"Why? Maria-chan is my friend," replied Seigai.

"She'll turn you into a frog if you're not careful. Or a worm, or something even more terrifying. And she curses people. You don't want to be cursed, do you?" asked the boy.

"I don't want to be cursed... but Maria-chan..."

"And she talks to stuffed animals!" shouted the boy, cutting off Seigai.

"What?" asked Seigai.

"She always talks to that lion stuffed animal she keeps in her bag," spoke the boy.

"Lion stuffed animal? Maria keeps Sakutaro in her bag. He's a lion cub, and a boy at the same time," replied Seigai.

"No, it's a stuffed animal. Don't tell me you like that curse stuff, too?" asked the boy.

"It's magic... magic to make friends. Maria-chan is even trying to make it sunny," spoke Seigai.

"Magic? My father told me that magic is just a bunch of silly tricks. He showed one too me. Like how those stuffed animals talk? It's ven... ven... ven-something. It's how people make it look like toys talk by making sounds without moving their mouth," explained the boy.

"But... it can't be... they really do talk..." muttered Seigai.

"Ha ha, no they don't! It's all a trick. Don't fall for it, or you'll get cursed!!" shouted the boy, as he walked off laughing.

"A trick? They don't talk? It's just Maria?" muttered Seigai, as he made his way to the bench Maria was sitting on. Maria could tell Seigai was uneasy about something.

"What's wrong, Seigai-kun?" asked Maria.

"Maria-chan..." muttered Seigai.

"What's wrong, Seigai-kun?" asked Sakutaro. Seigai started shaking, then thought about what the boy told him. As a result, he started building up the magic resisting toxin, and only saw Sakutaro's vessel, hearing Maria's voice.

"Ma-maria-c-chan... how do you make your toys talk?" asked Seigai.

"What do you mean?" asked Maria.

"How do you make them talk?" asked Seigai.

"They talk on their own. I don't make them talk," replied Maria.

"But... it sounds like you're making them talk," spoke Seigai.

"Seigai-kun..." muttered Sakutaro. He got nervous at the level of toxin rising in Seigai, and ducked into Maria's bag.

"The toxin, Maria, I feel it, uryu," spoke Sakutaro.

"Why do you have the toxin?" asked Maria, "Do you not believe?"

"That boy... he told me you make it seem like they talk by making sounds," spoke Seigai.

"Maria doesn't make sounds. Maria uses magic. You have to believe if you want it to work. If you stop believing, you'll build the toxin and lose the magic. Maria doesn't want Seigai-kun to lose magic. Believe, Seigai-kun, believe!" shouted Maria.

"Maria... is there something special about your toys?" asked Seigai, remembering his attempt to make his stuffed animal talk the previous night.

"Special? They're Maria's special friends! They are special!" shouted Maria.

"You mean there's nothing special that makes them talk?" asked Seigai.

"It's magic!" shouted Maria.

"Then whey couldn't I get my stuffed animal to talk?" asked Seigai.

"Get it to talk? You don't make them talk, they talk on their own," spoke Maria, with a smile.

"On their own?" asked Seigai.

"On their own. You have to believe! If you believe, you'll hear their voice. Don't listen to the others, they don't know what magic is. Listen to Maria," replied Maria.

"Listen to Maria-chan... so... I just have to believe, and then I'll hear them talk... okay..." spoke Seigai. He thought about the previous day, and how he first met Sakutaro, and what he looked like. Was his appearance an act, too? It couldn't have been. It had to have been magic. This was the conclusion Seigai drew.

"_If it was magic, and I believe... I believe Sakutaro speaks on his own. It's not Maria, it's Sakutaro... don't listen to the others..." _thought Seigai to himself.

"Uryu, the toxin is disappearing!" shouted Sakutaro, as he popped out of Maria's bag. Seigai quickly closed his eyes. He was scared he would see a lion stuffed animal, rather than Sakutaro.

"I believe..." muttered Seigai, as he opened his eyes. A smiling Sakutaro greeted him.

"Sakutaro?" asked Seigai.

"Uryu!" shouted Sakutaro.

"That's right, it's not ven- whatever, it's magic. Only magic could make a friend like you!" shouted Seigai.

"That's right, Seigai-kun!" shouted Maria.

As Maria said that, the bell rang, signaling the end of their break. Seigai helped Maria put her grimoire away, and joined Maria back in class.

A man stood out on beach, looking out into the sunset. He closed his eyes momentarily, and stood still, deep in thought. Nothing could break him from his thoughts as he reflected in the tranquility of the place he was in.

"Ah, I remember those days... when I first met her," spoke the man to himself. He opened his eyes, and looked out to the sea once more.

"I didn't know just how important those days would be to me at the time. Those two days that shaped the rest of my life," spoke the man to himself.

"Seigai-san," came the voice of a woman.

"Oh, Nekoko-chan," spoke an adult Seigai. He turned to face the woman calling his name. The stand out features of this woman were the cat tail and ears, along with an elegant dress.

"Thinking about Maria-chan again?" asked Nekoko.

"I was. I was thinking of when I first met Maria-chan. How wonderful those first few days were," replied Seigai.

"Have you made your decision?" asked Nekoko.

"I have. I've already found someone to take care of things in my place. I need to go on this journey. I have to find out what happened to Maria-chan on that fateful day in October of 1986. I have to, for her, and everyone else who disappeared on that day," replied Seigai.

"It's not going to be easy," spoke Nekoko.

"Since when did I take the easy way in anything? I always jumped at challenges, right? I wouldn't have made it this far otherwise. Besides, I think I've reached the limits of my growth. I feel as though I have to unlock the truth of that day, as though the key to the next level lies within that truth," explained Seigai.

"I'll be with you, then. Me, and everyone else," replied Nekoko.

"Thank you, Nekoko-chan," spoke Seigai.

Nekoko smiled in response. Her smile remained for a moment, until something came to mind.

"Where do you plan to start?" asked Nekoko.

"To start? I'll need help. This isn't something I can do on my own," replied Seigai.

"You mean someone other than us?" asked Nekoko, while making a pouting face.

"I have in mind someone important. Someone who shares a deeper connection to the incident on Rokkenjima than I do," replied Seigai.

"Someone important... you mean... her?" asked Nekoko.

"That's right. To start, first I need to find her, Ushiromiya Ange," spoke Seigai.


End file.
